Honoring the behind-the-scenes service of corrections officers and employees
With their union voice, corrections officers and employees are forceful advocates for workplace safety.
Spruiell, president of AFSCME Texas Correctional Employees Council 907 (TCEC), credits workers negotiating though their union for securing better and more protective gear.
“We used to have to share stab-proof vests. Now we have more vests, more radios, better puncture resistant gloves,” he said.
It is an especially dangerous profession. More than 500 correctional officers have died in the line of duty going back to 1841, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, with an average of 11 work-related deaths each year.
The 2023 death of a correctional officer near Huntsville, Texas, prompted changes in policies and procedures on handling incidents with prisoners, Spruiell said. The prisoner involved in the officer’s death pleaded guilty to capital murder last year.
“We’re always taught, you want to go home at the end of the day,” he said.
AFSCME members are also on guard against efforts to privatize prisons in various communities.
Private, for-profit companies try to convince elected officials to abandon the public service model. AFSCME members speak out in opposition because privatization degrades services, weakens accountability and increases costs for taxpayers in the long run.
In another example of the union difference, AFSCME successfully argued to the Supreme Court that private prison contractors like GEO Group should not be immune from lawsuits over wrongdoing. The decision was a victory for public service workers, and keeps public work accountable to the public, not private corporations motivated by profit.
Improving corrections workplaces around the country
AFSCME members around the country are taking action to improve the lives of corrections officers and employees.
- This year, AFSCME members in Texas are defending the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act from state officials who want to strip state employees of its protections.
- In November, about 500 members of Servidores Públicos Unidos de Puerto Rico (SPUPR/AFSCME Council 95) held a public demonstration to demand the pay raises they were owed, which were delivered in December.
- In Illinois last year, members of AFSCME Council 31 fought for an expansion in the number of training academies to help hire and train more corrections officers.
- Members of OCSEA last year helped secure funding for new safety equipment in Ohio prisons.
Corrections workers’ role in our criminal justice system is one that most people never see. These dedicated workers carry out their public safety duties away from the public eye. AFSCME salutes their role in protecting the incarcerated population, the public outside the walls, and each other.
“If we don’t hold the line, who will?” said Spruiell.